Brantingham villa, comprising the lower parts of the walls and tessellated pavements, is situated at a point 100 yds W of a lamp-post on the W. side of Boothferry Road, and 237 feet N of the junction of that road known as 'Brantingham Outgangs'. Discovered in 1941 during quarrying operations, but covered up again with no further action until after the War, when in 1948 it was decided to remove the two mosaic pavements to Hull museums, as the site was hindering quarrying. Before this took place, however, one floor was stolen and the foundations damaged, but the other was successfully dealt with. A Constantinian coin (Urbs Roma) was found in the eastern wall footings and another, of Constantine I c.330-5, in hypocaust ash. (2)

(SE 93152880) Excavations were carried out in 1962 to the NW of the 1941 site, following the discovery of tesserae on the surface after ploughing. These excavations revealed a figured mosaic pavement on the floor of a large room 36'6" by 25'6", whose walls had been almost entirely robbed. Masonry had survived only in the SE corner - on the site of a door leading into a corridor. Adjoining the west wall of the room and resting on the pavement was a circular 'oven' about 4 ft in diameter, built of limestone blocks. There was no dateable evidence and its exact purpose is uncertain but it was possibly a lime kiln, operated when the walls were robbed. Large quantities of wall plaster were also recovered. (3)

Description of mosaic. (4)

Site excavated in 1983. Iron Age ditched enclosures were overlain by a succession of increasingly sophisticated buildings. (5)

HU 2 First discovered in 1941 when two mosaics were were found at Cockle Pits stone quarry. They were recorded and reburied and removed to Hull Museum in 1948, one disappeared. The discovery of further mosiac remains 70m to the north in 1961 resulted in excavations the following year. These recovered the remains of an exceptionally large room with a tessellated floor, 11.13m x 7.77m, a corridor and the remains of four other rooms, three of which had tessellated floors. Several hut circles visible. A double-ditched linear feature runs north-east to south-west. (6)

Description of the mosiac. (7)

An MPP Assessment was undertaken on the site in 2002 as part of work on the lime, cement and plaster industries. The location of the lime-kiln documented by authy. 3 could not be established. It is already protected by the current scheduling of the complex and no further action is recommended. (8)

Documented. (9)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1958

( 2) General reference

Yorkshire Archaeol J 37 1951 pp514-20 plans, photos (P E Slack)

( 3) General reference

Britannia 4 1973 pp84-106 Plans (J Liversidge, D J Smith & I M Stead)

( 4) by David S Neal 1981 Roman mosaics in Britain : an introduction to their schemes and a catalogue of paintings

Britannia monograph series1 - 1 Page(s)47-50

( 5) edited by Peter Halkon 1989 New light on the Parisi : recent discoveries in Iron Age and Roman East Yorkshire